Christian Louboutin, Tiffany & Co. and Valentino Demonstrate Luxurious Social Success, While Gucci and Coach Are the Talk of the Town Offline

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - December 09, 2015) - Technology and data company Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL), creator of the eValue™ score, today released its Total Social™ data rankings on the top luxury brands both on social media and through word of mouth (WOM) conversations in the U.S.

Total Social combines Engagement Labs' proprietary eValue social media measurement tool and TalkTrack®, the leading measurement source of WOM conversation from the Keller Fay Group, an Engagement Labs company.

Top Ten U.S. Luxury Brands -- Online and Word of Mouth Conversations

Source: Engagement Labs eValue™ 2015 rankings of U.S. luxury brands and Keller Fay's TalkTrack® 2015 rankings of U.S. luxury brands' word of mouth conversation.

"Social media provides a unique opportunity for luxury brands to engage with target consumers as well as create a tangible, yet aspirational experience for those that will be consumers of its products in the future," said Bryan Segal, CEO at Engagement Labs. "Therefore, not only are these brands using social media to drive sales, but also creating brand experiences that illicit desire and build brand affinity."

On Facebook, high-end shoe brand Christian Louboutin ranked first with the highest overall eValue score, as well as the highest Engagement and Responsiveness scores among the group. The Company leveraged short posts and included professional photography of its signature red-bottomed shoes accompanied by the hashtag #LouboutinWorld which enabled the brand to generate the most likes and shares per 1,000 fans.

When Engagement Labs looked at the social media performance on Twitter, the Company found that jewelry brand Tiffany & Co. ranked first for overall eValue score and had the highest Engagement and Responsiveness scores. Tiffany & Co. leveraged a range of content including photos of celebrities purchasing its products, to user-generated content from popular fashion bloggers, as well as promotions for new products. The brand's most engaged tweets featured the #WillYou hashtag, in reference to its signature engagement rings.

On the visual-platform Instagram, Valentino placed first with an eValue score of 82.7 out of the possible 100, and had the highest Engagement score. The Company posted significantly more content than the other brands measured and had the most active user base. The content shared by the brand featured professional images of its products, user-generated content from well-known fashion bloggers, as well as images of celebrities wearing its products.

"While luxury brands have a wide-reaching appeal and extremely large followings, Engagement Labs' data indicates that they engage and interact less with followers than typically seen with other retail brands we have measured. These luxury brands are missing out on opportunities to engage and activate audiences through two-way conversations. By posting more frequently and responding to followers comments, luxury brands could elevate not only their online footprint, but also increase WOM conversations, and in turn build brand awareness to drive a path to purchase," noted Segal.

According to Engagement Labs' WOM data, the Company found that luxury brands that were highly ranked in its eValue rankings did not have similar success in offline WOM. Instead, brands that ranked lower in eValue such as Gucci, Coach and Ralph Lauren, secured the top spots for offline WOM conversations.

"When comparing the online and offline rankings, we found the conversations around the brands were not translating on different platforms -- be it online or offline. It is important for brands that score well on social media to understand that offline conversations are also a significant driver of sales, and to focus on strategies that can unleash the power of offline conversation. Similarly, those that do well offline would be well-served by sharpening their social media focus. Top performing brands in today's marketplace need to excel at driving consumer conversation both offline and online, as consumers today rely on both and move fluidly between them," concluded Segal.

About Engagement Labs

Engagement Labs (TSX VENTURE: EL) offers intelligent Total Social™ data, analytics and insights for marketers and organizations enabling them to track, measure and benchmark the conversations happening around their brand or industry both online and offline. These conversations are proven to drive critical business outcomes, including sales, while Engagement Labs' tools provide data and actionable insight to help guide business decisions and power marketing effectiveness.

Engagement Labs' eValue™ Analytics tool is the global benchmark for social media scoring. eValue's proprietary data technology offers real-time analysis to measure a brand's social media and digital marketing efforts, distilling it down to a single meaningful number between 0 and 100 -- an eValue score. Composed of a series of metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), an eValue score measures social media Engagement, Impact and Responsiveness which is benchmarked against 100,000+ handpicked and verified brands. The Keller Fay Group, an Engagement Labs company, is the only firm to regularly measure offline conversation via TalkTrack ®; independent research finds offline conversation is a significant driver of sales with twice the impact of online conversation.

Engagement Labs maintains offices in Toronto ON, Montreal QC, London UK and New Brunswick NJ.

www.engagementlabs.com / www.kellerfay.com

Embedded Video Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yEKIkVCtp5c